listen while you work

I listen to music while I work. I couldn't exactly tell you why (well, that's n ot true, I just don't feel like puzzling that question out at the moment,) but it's a really important part of my creative process.

When I worked on the first few drafts of Just A Geek, I listened to Boingo's Dark at the End of the Tunnel, and when I did the final draft, I listened to Rattle and Hum, The Wall, and Dark Side of the Moon. (Strangely, I did not listen to Dancing Barefoot when I worked on Dancing Barefoot, but I heard it in my head frequently.) I'm sure there's some really great symbolism there for someone who wants to dig it up; for me it was just music that was at the right wavelength, if you will, when I was writing.

These days, I rarely listen to a specific album or artist (though today, just to prove me wrong, I needed to hear The Pixies) but instead listen to Soma.fm, XM's Pops classical station, or I just let my iTunes library go to town and surprise me.

A few days ago, I came across this cool AppleScript via Lifehacker that tells iTunes to go ahead and do whatever it's doing, but when the BBC releases their hourly news update, it will finish my song, or fade out the stream, and play the latest news from the BBC. It kind of makes it like listening to the radio, and I feel like I'm sort of a smart guy who stays up to date on stuff going on in the world, without having to, you know, click on a website to read stories. It also reminds me to get up and stretch once an hour, which is really important because I plan to run a marathon sometime before 2007 is over.

So if it seems intriguing to you, check it out at Doug's AppleScripts. It was super easy to install and get running, and I had my first news report in less than ten minutes. There's also a version that will get the NPR news updates, if you prefer you news with a little less colour.

Comments

[Myshtuff]

Wow. That program sounds pretty neat. I will have to check that out. Yeah, its not uncommon for people to listen to music while they work. I was just doing my homework and I was listening to a little Pink Floyd as well. :)

[tjp]

Music and Love make the world go around. I like to listen to Rush while I work.

[jamenta]

Beethoven's Sonatas. Chopin. Soundtrack from Amelie. Sound track from Return of the King. Roy Orbison. Louis Armstrong. Dido. Liz Phair. Norah Jones. Celtic woman.

[can_climber]

Don't think us Canadians didn't notice the way you spelled colour. Very British. Nice job.

[moon topples]

As exceptions to the rules go, the Pixies are an excellent choice.

Thanks much for sharing the AppleScripts. They sound great. I'm gonna try one of them out tomorrow on my work machine.

[starshine_diva]

That sounds awesome. I've got to say, the most dissapointing moment of my day is when I get to bed, roll over a bit, then decide I want to listen to the news. I check the time, and of course, I'm always a few minutes late.

As for listening to music when I work, I used to do that all the time. These days, it's more like watching TV over the laptop.

[shewhobeatsass]

Duran Duran, Jerry Rafferty, Pat Benatar, The Boomtown Rats, and U2 are my typing music. I have the WEIRDEST collection of downloaded music; everything from Avenue Q to The Ramones.

Speaking of Avenue Q, I'm listening to a terribly funny song from that show, and it just happens to be called...The Internet Is For Porn. Nothing funnier than something that sounds like Cookie Monster singing about internet porn...

[Feydakin]

I know why I listen to music at work, mostly to drown out the Jimi Hendrix on Basson that the guy next to me plays..

But I do find that I get a lot more work done with a good funk groove going than with nothing at all..

[alicein1derland]

shewhobeatsass - I love the soundtrack for Avenue Q - we saw the show in Vegas a year ago. And you're right - The Internet Is For Porn is hilarious... good choice.

I always have music when I work, at home, in the office.... music can make even the drudge jobs more enjoyable.

[Belina]

Sometimes it helps. Sometimes it hinders. Currently I'm working on a paranormal with a pirate ghost. I've come up with a lot of great seafaring music. And, if I get really stuck, I have an inspirational critique partner who will show up with a bottle of rum.

[simbeau]

Does sound like an interesting program but I'll hold off until I can get the CBC radio news feed.

But I guess the best thing to stream would have to be a little thing you may have run across, Radio Free Burrito?

[[GWJ] rabbit]

How is it that I never discovered Soma.FM

I'm off Pandora until this gets old, but it may take a while.

Honestly though, i go back and forth between writing in total silence, writing with slam-headed old punk, and writing with mellow.

rabbitatsignrabbitcavedotcom
http://www.gamerswithjobs.com/

[Mike Cohen]

I need music when I work, but I used to find the lyrics distracting, so I started listening to music with non-English lyrics (which is how I got into "world music"). After a while it started to have the opposite effect, when I started learning a few words of several languages and singing along in languages I don't understand.

I usually listen to iTunes Party Shuffle while I work.

[Publiuz]

I always love to hear the conditions writers need when they write. Stephen King always talks about needing hard rock played LOUD as he works. I'm in awe that he can do that; I just can't focus!

Apart from music, it's also interesting to see the work areas that people need. I'm jealous of Neil Gaiman, who seems to be able to work while sprawled on the couch leaning on one elbow while he pounds on a lap top. Again, I just can't do that. My arm would go to sleep, and I can't write unless I've got at least SOME semblance of privacy...

I have to work upright, in a chair -- though I always tuck one leg up under me -- and (like Mike Cohen) I can't listen to any music that has lyrics. I wrote my book ("Washington Irving: An American Original," coming soon to a bookstore or amazon.com link near you, and NOT to be confused with a competing bio...) while listening to Sirius Pure Jazz 72 turned down low -- and props to Sirius for making their channels available as streaming audio!

I wanted SO badly to utilize the shuffle function of iTunes -- the hours of seclusion seemed to be an ideal opportunity to work my way through some of the deep cuts in my CD collection -- but anytime a song came on with lyrics, whether it was Sinatra, the Beatles, Reverend Horton Heat, Eddie From Ohio, or an old blues singer, it just completely threw me off track. It's like someone is trying to talk with me and I can't pay attention to what I'm doing.

Like you, I'm a sucker for BBC World News. I admire their ability to remain almost completely impartial and willingness to admit when something has not yet been confirmed. Gotta love that British reserve.

[shewhobeatsass]

alicein1derland-I haven't seen the show yet, but it was recommended to me by a friend who had. She described it as "A rather demented human & puppet version of RENT." Was she accurate?

[krynsky]

It would be cool if you updated the "listen" portion of your sidebar with dynamic playlists generated by last.fm I mean those static ones are so 90s :) there are now so many cool 3rd party code snippets that can display personal info available nowadays that I wrote a story that lists many of them here

[William]

Can't work with music....